Tracey Stubbs
'Tracey Stubbs '''is one of the main characters of ''Birds of a Feather. ''She is portrayed by the actress Linda Robson.'' History Tracey was born in 1957 and was the eldest daughter of George Hamilton and Mavis Bullock. She was later adopted along with her younger sister Sharon by the Rackham family. When the Rackham family passed away, they moved in with their Aunt Sylvie until they were old enough to leave home. At the age of 16, Tracey met Darryl and she became pregnant. After Garth was born, they married a few years afterwards. Darryl worked on building outdoor conservatories, but unknown to his wife he also robbed banks. Most of it payed off and the family moved into a luxurious house that they named "Dalentrace," where most of the furniture came from more stolen bank deposits. After being married for 14 years and sending Garth to a private school for higher learning. Tracey found out that Darryl had been arrested with Sharon's husband Chris for armed robbery . At court the two men were sentenced to 12 years in prison, Darryl told Tracey to wait for him. Tracey was heartbroken and told Sharon that the house would be empty without Darryl and Garth would be crushed. Sharon offered to stay with her to help and support her. The two sisters dealt with their husbands convictions in different ways: Sharon reveled in her newfound freedom while Tracey initially spent her time moping, deluding herself into believing Darryl was innocent. She also has several visits from her neighbour and best friend Dorien Green who she often called disgusting because of her adulterous ways. As the years went by Tracey paid Darryl several visits to the prison he was sent to telling him about how much she missed him and discussing family problems. She almost had an affair with West Ham footballer Patsy Edwards when she found a letter from Darryl that had been addressed to another women called Juliet. She also started an affair with a German mechanic called Manfred, but it didn't last long, as she told him it was over and that she really loved her husband. When she started becoming short of money, Sharon opened a cafe left in her husband's uncle will bring some in. After some years Sharon sold the cafe and they produced their own pool making business called "Pools R Us" Tracey was extremely excited when Darryl was given parole and was finally coming home after 7 years and was quick to tell Sharon to leave. When Darryl did return, Tracey did all she could to make him feel at home again including asking him to participate in their business much to Sharon's displeasure. But Tracey's delight at having her husband back was short-lived as Darryl's criminal impulses got the better of him and he attempted to return to a life of crime by trying to launder counterfeit money into Sharon and Tracey's business, but was caught along with an innocent Chris who just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Afterwards Darryl and Chris were sent to prison again with 6 more years added on to the remainder of their previous sentence. Tracey finally came to realize Darryl was totally unreliable as an honest breadwinner, and felt angry and betrayed. She stormed off outside the court and gave her engagement ring to a tramp outside, not wanting anymore to do with her husband. Tracey then went out on the pull and met a guy called Joe who she then slept with in an act of revenge over Darryl betraying her. She considered leaving him during this period, but after Darryl's failed suicide attempt in Never the Twain, she realized that she still loved her husband, but was still quite cross with him, and would not allow herself to be manipulated by him ever again. Thanks to Darryl, Tracey and Sharon's business went bust, they fell into debt again and had to sell Dalentrace and move to Ongar. This is when Tracey and Sharon started a cleaning business called Maids of Ongar, with Dorien as co-director. Garth met a girl called Kimberley and soon they had a child and were engaged. They got married in the episode Nuptials. When Tracey learned she was pregnant with her second child in the final episode of Season Seven, she was terrified that Darryl may not be the father and felt ashamed of her behaviour, but she was reassured to learn the other possible father had had a vasectomy. The final episode of the original series would see Tracey giving birth to her second son Travis in a stable in Ireland and with her sister and Dorien by her side, looked ahead to the future. Years later, Tracey has divorced Darryl, has remarried to a guy named Ralph, is back living in Dalentrace, and kicked Sharon out of the house because she hated Ralph. Tracey later caught Ralph rooting through her underwear drawer looking for her savings, so she chucked him out and subsequently divorced him, but she was too ashamed to tell Sharon what had happened. A few months later, Tracey and Sharon "bump into each other" at a book signing where they learn that Foxy Cohen, the author of the best-selling erotic memoir Sixty Shades of Green, is really their old friend Dorien. Tracey then gives Sharon a lift back to her flat in Edmonton where Tracey is upset to see the conditions that Sharon lives in and asks her sister to move back in with her, revealing she was right about Ralph. After Sharon moves back in, it is revealed that she and Tracey's teenage son Travis had arranged their "chance" meeting at the book signing. During this time, Tracey began dating her boss, Robin. During a meal, Robin accidently called Tracey "Jan", his ex-wife's name. Tracey later saw photographs of Robin with his ex-wife, who looked strikingly similar to Tracey, and she realized what his true intentions were. Tracey later quit her telesales job after Robin took things too far. Tracey later received an offer from her Auntie Vera to succeed her as Pearly Queen of Thornton Heath, but Sharon got jealous and tried out for the crown herself, but both were passed over in favour of their cousin Michelle after Vera decided they were both "a colossal disappointment". Tracey soon fears Travis is heading down the same path as Darryl when he gets arrested for selling dodgy cigarettes. She subsequently found out Garth had a criminal record for punching some guy who made defamatory comments about her. Tracey was then faced with a dilemma: which son should take the blame? Tracey ultimately took the rap herself. Some time later, Dorien spotted a mole on Tracey's shoulder and forced her to see the doctor. She tried to keep it secret from Sharon, but after Sharon revealed she had "accidently" steamed open Tracey's mail, Tracey, in a moment of panic, blurted out her secret. Tracey learned shortly after that the mole was malignant and she needed a scan to see if it had spread, but the results came back negative. Some time later Tracey is informed that Darryl has died due to falling through a warehouse roof in Wrexham after a break-in gone wrong. Though Tracey appears quite upset at first, her grief quickly subsides as it is shown she still harbours a lot of anger towards her ex-husband for the many times he let her down by promising to reform and then returning to a life of crime, and said that aside from Garth and Travis, Darryl never gave her anything legit. Personality Tracey is deeply devoted to her family and does all she can to help her younger sister and Dorien out. She can sometimes have a fierce temper, especially whenever somebody makes a rude remark about her husband, such as in Season Five's An Inspector Stays when Dorien did just that and Tracey threw a mug at her. In that same episode, she slapped Sharon for saying Garth was "only following in his father's footsteps" after Tracey found fifty quid in his pocket. On the odd occasion, it was Darryl who ended up feeling Tracey's wrath, such as the time when she kicked Darryl under the table because he missed spending a weekend from prison because he got angry with Chris for burning a lasagne. She was able to keep a lid on her temper during son Garth's wedding to girlfriend Kimberly in spite of the constant moaning and meddling of Kimberly's snooty mother Lynne, but when Lynne told Garth off for saying "bloody", Tracey finally had enough and give Lynne an earful before shoving a piece of wedding cake in her face. Tracey can also be incredibly naïve, as for most of the series, she fails to see what kind of man Darryl really is; in Season Seven's Relative Strangers, shortly after being released from jail, Darryl kicks Sharon out of the house following a heated argument, and Tracey refuses to back up her sister, effectively turning her back on her. But after Darryl has yet another run-in with the law and is thrown back in jail after being caught with counterfeit cash, Tracey finally comes to realize she can no longer rely on Darryl to earn an honest crust. She likes to join in with Sharon's jokes that are made about Dorien about her adulterous personality. She also does have the occasional fight with Sharon because of her overspending, laziness, untidiness and breaking Darryl's things, but she loves and respects her sister and always appreciates the fact that she's there for her. Tracey also appears to be overly protective of her younger son Travis, especially when it comes to Dorien. When Tracey thought Dorien was going to say something about sex, she quickly covered Travis' ears. She also told Travis to go to his room when they were listening outside Dorien's door and jumped to the conclusion that she was having sex, but it turned out she was playing poker. Tracey also continues to refer to Travis as her "baby" in spite of the fact Travis is in his late teens. Relationships Darryl Stubbs (ex-husband): For many years Tracey was utterly devoted to her criminal husband Darryl, standing by him in spite of his countless run-ins with the law. For years she deluded herself into believing Darryl was not capable of crime even when she discovered the truth, she continued to live in a lie. But at some point Tracey decided she would stand by her man no longer and after one arrest too many Tracey divorced Darryl so she could focus on raising their younger son Travis. Despite the break-up Tracey still appeared upset when given the news of Darryl's death, although her anger quickly surfaced as she said that everything Darryl did was at the end of a sawn-off shotgun and that her sons were the only legitimate thing he ever gave her. Category:Characters